Rick Brooks is co-founder and program director of the nonprofit organization Little Free Library. Little Free Libraries are little buildings, sort of like a birdhouse but bigger, in people's front yards or other public spaces, that hold books for the taking. The idea is to share books and the love of reading...and draw the community closer along the way. Since the idea's start in 2009, nearly 12,000 Little Free Libraries have been put into use around the world. Buck spoke with Rick recently to learn all about them and why people are loving the idea.

Bob Carter spoke Oct. 4 with Prof. Kathryn Pearson of the U of MN political science department to get her take on the government shutdown, possible strategies of the various players, how it might be resolved, and much more.

In the wake of the Navy Yard shootings in Washington, D.C., Buck spoke Sept. 27 with Rich Harwood, founder and president of the D.C.-based Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, and a nationally recognized expert in the fields of community change and crisis. Rich talked about what happens to communities in the aftermath of a crisis, and ways to start and help the healing process.

St. Louis County Commissioner Frank Jewell spoke with Ann Possis Sept. 20 about the Heart of the Continent Partnership (HOCP), an American/Canadian coalition of land managers and local stakeholders working together on cross-border projects. Their next meeting is at Camp Menogyn, off the Gunflint Trail, Oct. 3 & 4. For more information on the HOCP, or to sign up to attend the meeting, click here.